Confessed
by emilymurphy
Summary: What happens when Kit tells Simon and Tori that they're related? Read and review please.
1. It's No Lie, Kids

"What is it you want to tell me?" I heard Tori ask. We were in some hotel and it had only been a few weeks since we'd escaped from the Edison Group. We were still altogether, our group of supernaturals... and my aunt.

"Come outside?" This came from Kit.

I looked away from the television and saw Tori sitting on her bed with a magazine in her hands. Kit was at the door, trying to get her out. What was so important that he couldn't say in front of me? Was something up and he didn't trust me to know?

"What's this about, Kit?" Tori asked, placing her magazine down on the bed and sitting up.

"I need to talk to you about something. You and Simon."

Oh. I knew what this was about. This was about the whole brother-sister thing between Simon and Tori. It was about time that they knew, seeing as how Kit was her father. She needed to know. Her mother had been killed, and Tori had seen it happen. She'd also been forced to leave all her life behind. The man she believed was her dad and her sister. She'd also left her friends. She needed to know that she had some family, even if it was Simon and Kit. Derek, too, I guess.

Tori looked at him for a few seconds as if she'd misheard. Then she looked scared. "Look, I know it was stupid. It was his idea-"

"What?" Kit asked. Clearly, Tori had no idea where this was going. Neither did I, for that matter.

"Wait, what are we talking about?"

"What were _you_ saying?" Kit asked. I laughed quietly to myself. The look on her face was absolutely hilarious.

"Nothing. I wasn't talking about anything," she said. She got up quickly and went to the door. When he started to leave, Tori looked back at me and asked, "Could you come? I don't know what this is about, Chloe. If it's about what happened-"

I put up a hand quickly, stopping her. "I don't want to know what you did. This seems important to him, Tori. I don't think I should interfere with this."

"Please? For me?" She was begging. Oh, my God.

"Okay. If he doesn't mind."

We walked outside and followed Kit down to the main floor where Simon stood leaning against the wall, his hands in his pockets. When he saw us coming he smiled. He waved at me and turned to look at Tori, his gaze staying there for just a second too long. That second, though, made me think, _What the heck_?

Kit started talking before I could say anything. "Simon, Tori, what I'm about to tell you is really..." He stopped looking for the right word. "Serious. It's complicated and you might be upset by this, and I'm sorry for that, but you need to know. It's about time."

Simon looked at his father intently. Tori looked confused. He continued anyway.

"Things used to be complicated. I made some... bad choices a while back and... " He started mumbling some things, some things too quiet for us to hear. He went on like that for a minute or two.

"We can't hear you," Tori said. "What did you say?"

He looked at her with a weird look in his eyes. He looked sad. "I said, I'm you're father, Tori."

I looked at her quickly to see her reaction. She was narrowing her eyes at him. I looked at Simon. His eyes were wide, his mouth open just a little bit. A look of shock.

"What are you talking about?" Tori asked. Her hands came up and she folded them across her chest. "You're not my dad. My dad's back at home, waiting for me." Her voice sounded panicked. Apparently she hadn't noticed what this meant about Simon yet.

Kit turned to look at him. He made a small smile. "What do you have to say about this?"

Simon hadn't moved at all. He blinked at his father, then slowly looked at Tori. He cleared his throat. In a small voice, he said, "Are you saying that me and Tori are-"

"What the fuck!" Tori shouted. I jumped. "Me and Simon are brother and sister? Are you _kidding me_?"

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I was waiting for the right time, but I don't think there's a right time for things like this and-" He stopped and walked over to Tori. "I'm sorry, okay?"

"Don't. Don't say you're sorry. If you were sorry you would... I don't know. You're making this up. Just- stop. Shut up." She started backing away from him, looked at Simon and ran.

"That didn't go as well as you must have planned, hmm, Dad?" Simon asked dryly. He was looking at the direction she'd run to, and he looked as if he might follow. "You'd better not be making this up."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I'm sorry, okay?"

He looked at his dad for a few moments, then nodded. He nodded again and went to his room. Kit turned to me. "That didn't go too well," he said.


	2. Aftermath

**Yoooo!** Thank you to everyone who've been reading this. This is my very first story. I've been on this site for a while but I've never actually had the time to write some of my ideas. Thank you, thank you, thank you for reading. It really means a lot to me. Also, if anyone thinks the story is no good, or that it starts to get boring... tell me. Please. And if you see anything wrong, find any mistakes, could you tell me in the review? I'd really appreciate it. So, chapter two anyone?

* * *

A few hours later, Tori finally returned. She looked angry, but honestly? I couldn't blame her for it. Kit really should have said it sooner. Aside from the fact that Tori used to crush on Simon, it was weird enough already.

Meanwhile I had been sitting in my room on the edge of my bed. Derek had come up, asked what was going on with Simon, stayed for a little while and left saying that he was going to talk to his dad. Now, I sat here with Tori, trying to figure this out with her. I was on my bed, facing her while she sat on her own.

"I can't believe this," Tori said. It sounded like she had given up.

"It's not much to put your head around, really. Haven't you ever had some tiny part of your head saying that something was up with you and your family? I mean, you don't really look like your... _other _dad, do you? Or your sister? And your powers are amazing. It couldn't be just from your mom." I wasn't sure what to call the man she'd grown up with. The man she'd believed was her dad.

She sighed and came to sit next to me. "Chloe, I know you're really trying to make this is easier for me. Thank you. Really. I just don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I was just trying to help you," I said, smiling as kindly as I could while Tori was telling me to shut up. It was actually pretty hard to do.

There was a knock at the door, followed by Simon's voice. Tori made a weird noise, cleared her throat and went to open the door.

"Hey," he said.

Tori didn't say anything. She moved aside and let Simon come in. He came to sit next to me, directly where Tori had just been sitting. Weird.

"What's up?" he asked us.

I shrugged and spoke when I realized that Tori wouldn't be the one answering Simon's questions. "Nothing really. We were just talking. Are you okay with what happened?"

He looked at his hands. They were folded in his lap. "Sort of. Not really. I think- No. It's kind of like- Umm... I don't know. It's weird. I have a sister," he said. "Plus, it's Tori. The girl I met in a group home. The girl that always flirted with me, the girl that was so full of meds all the time, the girl I never ever got along with... I don't even know what to say about it. Thinking about it makes my head hurt."

Tori finally spoke, although it was quiet. "It's weird."

No one spoke for a little bit. I sat there, watching Simon struggle to stay still. He played with his nails, picking at them. He was nervous. Tori stood near the door, never once moving. Completely opposing him.

The door swung open and Derek came in. Tori jumped away from the door, almost getting hit by it. Derek looked at her and mouthed an apology, although it looked half-hearted. He looked at me and smiled, looked at Simon, back to me and then quirked an eyebrow. _How is he? _I shrugged.

"Chloe's aunt wants us to choose a place for supper," Derek said, aiming it at his brother.

"I don't care. Wherever's good," Simon replied. He didn't look up. Derek sighed and walked over and sat on my other side. "I think you should decide. Soon, too."

"Hungry?" Simon Derek didn't say anything, he continued, "Why don't you just pick?"

"How about we eat here?" I said. Apparently Simon wasn't in the mood to be going out. He seemed to want to go back to his room more than anything. "Room service is okay. In fact, it sounds good to me."

"Sure," Simon answered. "You mind if I leave? I'm going to head back to my room. Maybe draw or something." He got up and left.

"Can I come? I want to talk to you," Tori asked quietly as Simon passed her to leave. He nodded.

I looked away from the door and turned to Derek. He looked so different since we'd first met. His skin was clear, his hair had grown even longer and he had a smile on his face regularly. He was truly beautiful, although he blushed and turned away when I told him. It was something so out-of-character for him to blush, too.

"How is it, finding out that you have a sister?" I asked him. It was easier to talk to him than to Simon.

He grunted. "Tori as a sister? I can't seem to wrap my head around it. Good thing that we're not actually blood-related."

Also, since I'd met him, he'd started talking a lot more. Mostly to me though. He was still quiet with Aunt Lauren. He didn't talk to Tori at all though, only shouted or growled. His voice was nice. It was deep and low and it made my stomach clench just hearing it. And his laugh... I smiled. I often wondered if he only had that effect on me.

"Did you know about this?" he asked. "The whole Simon-Tori thing?"

I scrunched up my face. Of all questions, he just had to ask that one?

"I'm guessing that's a yes." He smiled his gorgeous smile. The one that made my heart ache.

"Yes," I sighed. I put my head on his shoulder and welcomed his hands to circle me. He was warm and he smelled like trees and summer. I don't know how long we were like that but I eventually fell asleep, like I did a lot with Derek.

...not that he was boring and did that to me, make me fall asleep. He was just nice like that and let me sleep on him. Like nice boyfriends do.

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I will be posting the next chapter soon. Hopefully there will be some nice reviews for me?

- Emily!


	3. Tête à tête

**Hello there! **I got so many nice reviews. Well, 5 (?). That's still good though, right? It made me smile. Also, some of my favorite fanfiction writers reviewed with such nice comments I've been in a smily mood since I've seen them. Also, I know Derek is OOC. He seemed really nice at the end of The Reckoning. This story takes place a few weeks after that so I'm guessing that Derek's happiness level would have again increased? I mean, if I were Kelley, I would for deffs make Derek the most attractive character to ever live in the land of books. I'm thinking of tweaking his personality juuust a bit. He's still going to be Derek, moody and all, but nicer. Is that okay? Or... bad idea? Basically, he'd only be sweet-Derek with Chloe.

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~Tori's POV~

Sitting with Simon in his and Derek's room was awkward. All he seemed to be capable of doing was fidget. Compared to me with my creepy stillness, it was weird. Honestly, how was I even related to him? We barely looked alike. Shouldn't we bare the tiniest of resemblances? All of my friends siblings looked alike. It was weird to have to actually call him my brother. Yeah, he was attractive, but in a completely different way than I was. He looked Asian, whereas I did not. At all. It was like our looks were switched, him getting the blond hair and the Korean features, me getting the dark hair and the Caucasian features. Well, it sort of made sense, seeing as how we were both half-Asian. We each got half of the qualities.

I hate that Kit never told me. I hate it even more that he never told Simon. Simon loves his dad, it was all he could talk about at Lyle House. He'd whisper words like, "We'll find him," to Derek. I've known Simon for a while, half of it being spent by me obsessing over getting him to like me. Yeah, it's embarrassing to find out we share the same blood, but I feel really bad about the trust Simon must have lost with the guy.

"I hate this, Simon," I said. He sighed and looked up at me. _Finally_.

"You think I want you being my sister? I can't stand you. I think you must understand what that's like," he answered. He began to tap his fingers on his thigh. "Yeah, I've wanted a sister since I was a kid. You, though? Not exactly my dreams coming true."

Ouch. I covered it up with a pathetic question. "Did Kit ever hint at it? That he had a daughter?" I asked.

"No. I probably wouldn't be so pissed right now if I knew. It's like... Before he disappeared he was great. Nice to me and Derek. He was an amazing dad. But now? He hid this from me and you. It's not something you can _hide _from your kids. How could he? He can't even use the excuse of not knowing it was you. He couldn't just wake up thinking, 'Hmm. Tori. That sounds familiar... Oh, shit!' and realize the girl hanging with us was his daughter." Simon imitated him perfectly. Except for the language. Kit probably wouldn't use those words.

"You sure? Maybe he _has_ hidden things from you. With something like this, I wouldn't be so sure on calling him Father Of The Year."

"Look, he is a good guy. He just messed up. I don't understand why he'd do this though. He's always been so caring, always making sure I was healthy or happy. He's always been patient, especially when we brought Derek home. He needed the patience or Derek would probably be a freak today." I started to object to the fact that he _was_ a freak but he cut me off with a glare. Then he sighed. "I know you don't like him. Derek's your brother too, I guess. You should try getting along with him. He really has changed since Lyle House. Chloe made him... nice. He's been a lot happier since they've met. I don't know how she does it, she just seems to radiate kindness. It's contagious or something. Even _you_ seem nicer."

I nodded, just barely paying attention. How was I supposed to get along with Derek? Just thinking about it made my head pound. I really couldn't stand him. He thought I was this Princess-Bitch or whatever. It was a good thing I wasn't really related to him. With Simon, I could probably try getting along. We were doing good so far. With Derek? If I said one wrong thing, he'd be shouting and coming at me. Not exactly something I wanted to risk. I wasn't cocky enough to intimidate Derek.

"I was talking to, er, Dad before. We don't have the same mom, only dad. I'd be your... step-brother?" Simon asked.

I laughed at the stupid mix-up. "No, you twit. Half-brother. 'Step' would be if my mom had married your dad. We wouldn't be related, but close."

"Oh yeah. I always mix those up," he said, smiling like a little kid."

I guess it won't be so hard. If anything, this is what I always wanted with Simon. I wanted to be able to talk to him without him criticising everything I said, or calling me names.

* * *

~Chloe's POV~

I woke up lying in my bed, Derek no where in sight. Typical for him, he always disappeared when I'd wake up. I looked around for the cause of my awakening and spotted it right away.

"Hey, Aunt Lauren," I said. I sat up and yawned.

"Sleeping all day again? You won't sleep until late tonight," she said, sounding like a mom. She made a _tsk-_ing noise and leaned against the door.

"Did you get whatever you and Kit always do when you're out done?" I asked.

"No. And Chloe, we don't do anything. I've told you countless times. We're just looking around to see if there's any trouble nearby with Cabals or some supernaturals that could cause problems. That's it."

"So you're going to go back out? You know, it isn't safe to leave four teenagers without supervision at a hotel. We could cause trouble, too, you know."

She shook her head, smiling. "Order what you want for supper when you get hungry. Where's Derek? Me and Kit just came back to check to make sure everyone was all right. He's not in his room."

I shrugged. "He's probably just out running or something. I don't know, he wanders a lot."

"I'll get going then," she sighed. "You going to be okay until we get back?"

I nodded.

"See you in a little bit. Call if there's anything?"

Again, I nodded. She left. I guess it was look-for-Derek time.


	4. AWOL

**Greetings fanfictioners!** I haven't updated in awhile. Honestly, I don't even have a good excuse for it. I wrote this chapter the day after the third one but I just haven't thought it was good enough. It feels... empty, like it's missing answers. I feel like you'll get mad at me for this chapter. Ah, well. Tell me what you think's going on! Read, review? Merci beaucoup, mes amis! (- lol.)

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I weaved through the people in the lobby of the hotel and arrived outside. Why were there so many people here today? It was usually quiet.

Derek normally sat outside on the hammock-thing by the trees when he was bored or just wanted to be outside. I always complained, telling him he sat there too often, that other people wanted to sit here too. He'd sort of laugh. Today, though, he was not there. So basically, I stood there staring at the swing like a moron for a little while, wondering where he was. I was so sure he'd be here.

Someone tapped on my shoulder. I tensed, somehow knowing it was Derek made me less jumpy, I didn't like it when he'd call out my skitty-ness. I turned, preparing to smile and... it wasn't even Derek.

"Hello," the woman said.

I was afraid. I smiled hesitantly. Could she be some dangerous supernatural working for the Cabal that was after us? Then, was I overreacting and overthinking it?

One could never be too cautious.

"Are you lost? I saw you wander out over here. I work at the hotel, I just wanted to make sure you were okay," she said, smiling kindly. She looked nice, probably in her fifties or sixties. Her hair was a pale blond, lightening at the roots. She had deep, deep brown eyes and had some wrinkles around her mouth and eyes.

"N-no, I'm not lost. I was just looking for my friend."

"Oh? Is he staying at the hotel aswell?" she asked.

I nodded, blankly. How did she know it was a 'he' already? I continued on as if I didn't notice. "It's no trouble, really. He's big, he can take care of himself if you're thinking he'll get hurt or something. He always goes for walks outside," I said. Plus, even if it was just the hotel lady, I didn't need her getting too involved with us. That was the rules. No associating with anyone living around here or at the hotel. If we did, we'd have to leave.

"It's getting dark," she remarked.

This girl was starting to creep me out. Maybe I was just getting paranoid, but she seemed to be too nice. After everything I'd been through, everyone seemed suspicious to me. If I were some Cabal or something, I would send the nice-looking woman to abduct the teenage supernaturals. She'd be perfect for the plan.

"I-I better go inside then," I said. "Thank you for, uh, coming to see if everything was all right."

She smiled, though it was sort of an annoyed smile. I walked back to the hotel quickly and went straight to Simon's room, walking in without knocking.

"Hi guys," I said, sitting down onto Simon's bed.

They were sitting on the couch, on the other side of the room. They both smiled. Simon had a _what's going on _look mixed with his smile though.

"I went out to look for Derek but this woman followed me to the swing-thing," I said.

Simon said, "A woman? Who?"

"She said she worked here."

"And no one knows where Derek is? And... you're not sure she really does work here? Crap, what if-" Tori cut him off.

"What if they found us?" She stood up and started for the phone. I stood up too and blocked her from it. "What are you doing? We need to call Your aunt and Kit!"

"Look, we don't know of anything for sure. He could have just gone to Change," I said. "He Changes once a week. When was the last time he did?" I asked Simon.

He shrugged.

Tori said the most un-Tori thing ever. Something I never expected would come from her mouth. "We should look around for him. If he's in trouble..."

"We'll all be in trouble?" Simon guessed. Obviously he didn't hear the pure fear of, I don't know, losing a brother in her tone. Didn't he care the slightest if Derek was okay?

"Yes, but that wasn't what I was going to say," she said, looking angry. Just a little bit.

Ah, they were already fighting. Since Kit had told them the news, they'd been argument-free. Apparently it didn't seem to last for too long.

"Stop fighting, would you? This isn't the time," I said, a bit snippier than I intended.

"Me_ow_," Tori muttered. She raised her voice, "Okay. Do we just... split up and look for him?"

"No, if they got Derek then I don't think it would be safe for us to be alone," Simon said. He got up from the couch, passed me and Tori and went to the phone. He turned, remembering that I'd just stopped Tori from doing it. He must have read my expression. "Derek has a cell he never uses. He might have it on him."

We stood around pointlessly as Simon dialed and waited for him to answer. In a drawer, I could hear a phone vibrate.

"Fuck," Simon whispered. He put the phone down and walked around the room. "Derek, stop being an asshole and just show up already?"

Sadly, it didn't work.

"What's the deal then?" Tori asked. "Do we just, I don't know, start looking for him? Or do we really need to plan anything out?"

"I don't know." At least I was being honest.

"Chloe, where do you think he might go? He always does crap like this, doesn't he? And you're the one to find him all the time. Where could he be?" Simon asked.

"Woods?" I guessed.

"Then we'll start there."


	5. Dude, Come On!

**Goodmorning/afternoon/evening! **This chapter's pretty short. I didn't want to write really much, and you're probz thinking, "It took her a week to write 1000 words?" -.-

Well, it didn't. I was going to make it an extra long one but by the time I'd gotten to this part, I'd only gotten two reviews and that pissed me off, seeing as I'd taken a day off and came back... 2 days later. So, I'm posting this as a chapter. If you want more, get me reviews. Thank you to everyone who _did _review though, I love you very, very much_. _Three isn't enough to make me write all of this though. Sorry! 5 this time, please? Or you could just tell me to stop.

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"Derek?" Simon called. "Hello?"

No answer. We hadn't heard or seen any sign of him anywhere yet. It frustrated me that he didn't hear us calling, but also... I was scared. He could be seriously hurt and we wouldn't even know.

Within the three of us, there was barely anything to do. I had to make sure that the woman from before wasn't following us, just in case she _was _one of the bad guys, and tryto spot anything that could help with finding him. Simon and Tori used spells; Light-balls, perimeter ones and tracking ones. Apparently Tori didn't have enough to do though. She yelled at the missing Derek. Basically, she was talking to the empty forest.

"Derek, come on!" Tori shouted impatiently. She was fed up of this. She didn't like Derek and she wanted to go inside, and I couldn't blame her. It was cold and the sun was going down, and shereally, really didn't like him. My aunt and Kit would be here soon though, so we couldn't give up. "There better be a good explanation for your little vanishing act, Souza."

"Whatever it is, I don't care. I just want him back," I said. Simon looked back at me and smiled sadly. He was a few paces in front of me but he slowed his pace and I caught up to him. He wrapped his arm comfortingly around my shoulders. "Thank you," I mumbled.

Tori didn't stop. "Derek! What. The. Hell! Come out. Yeah, we get that you're half dog and all, but seriously? We don't want to play your stupid hide-and-seek dog games or whatever," she said.

I sighed. We weren't going to find him like this. Tori needed to stop because she really wasn't helping my current state of mind. She should be helping Simon with the spells.

Simon noticed my expression change and whispered, directly in my ear, "We're not giving up, Chloe. If he's not out here we'll go check someplace else. Forget Tori." I could hear him smile through the words, " She's a bitch, remember? Ignore it, ignore her."

I pulled away a little bit and nodded silently. I didn't want to be close like that to Simon. Right now, I wanted Derek to show up from the trees and hold me and tell me he was sorry for disappearing. That he was sorry for worrying the crap out of me.

"What if we can't find him, Simon? What if-"

He cut me off with a shake of his head. "We will. He's bound to show up sometime."

"Can I try something then? It'll only take a minute or two. I think Liz could help us maybe. Do you mind if I try summoning her?" I asked. I pointed to the ground and he nodded, allowing me to sit.

"You need space? I can take Tori away, we can go stand off over there-" He gestured to the bushes a few metres away. "-or whatever. I don't know what to do."

"You can stay. Be quiet though," I said. He sat. She sat.

I sat there too and tried to visualize Liz. I pictured her as hard as I could, only getting these mind-pictures from Lyle House, which of course, reminded me of Derek. I tried thinking of her smile, I got one of his rare ones. Eyes? The beautiful green ones he had. Hair? Dark, of course. The pretty brown-black.

"Is it supposed to take this long?" Tori whispered to Simon. He shushed her.

"Shut up, she needs to concentrate," he whispered back. I peeked an eye open and smiled small at him. Then, I closed my eyes again and thought hard about her funky-looking pj's, the Minnie Mouse shirt. I thought about her socks, giraffes. My mind disagreed to picture her. Instead, I got the picture of Derek from right before he'd disappeared. A white t-shirt, dark gray sweatpants and tattered navy blue socks. His hair stuck up a little bit on one side, too.

I shook my head hard and tried to hide my frown.

"Maybe there's something wrong," Tori whispered.

"You need to be quiet, Tori. Go away if you want to talk. Go talk to a tree or something. She needs her concentration." Simon sounded impatient.

I focused on her voice now, knowing that I didn't have much time left before Tori got angry, knowing that I didn't have much time if Derek was in trouble. My thoughts now drifted towards him again. If he was in danger, he'd surely be able to defend himself. No one I knew was able to take Derek down. He was tough, even when put up against two adult werewolves and-

The sound of footsteps faded off into the distance, probably Tori. I opened my eyes to see her form getting smaller and smaller as she walked off deeper and deeper within the trees. When she got far enough and I couldn't make out detail, I imagined it being Liz and was able to get her picture in my head. I tugged hard on the visual right away before I lost it.

"Chloe!" her voice said happily. "T'sup?"

I opened my eyes and tried to smile as brightly as she was, although I failed miserably. I explained everything that was happening and she nodded now and then. Finally, the one question I really wanted her to answer, "Can you help us?"

"Of course!" Her form shimmered away and I sat there with nothing to do but wait for her to return with news of him.

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**REEEEEVIEW!**


	6. Uncertainty

**Hola!** I got my reviews! Thank you, Fanfictioners! Even if it did take a few extra days... I got them! Hurray! Oh, and guess what? This one is the longest. 1700-ish. HAH.

Okay, so this chapter is a bit, umm, weird. It has nothing to do with the theme of the story. Sorry 'bout that, friends! It'll make more sense in a while, or maybe at the end of the chapter. It depends on how you look at it. The next chapter will for deffs have lots of fluffy brother-sister stuff. This is just a sort of... working up to it sort of thing.

Anywaaaays. Any questions? Put them in your review. I want to know what you guys don't understand. I'll try fitting it into the next chapter, or if I can't I'll message it to you. No spoiler questions though. That's cheating!

Oh, and can anyone help with the next chapter's name? I'm stumped. :l

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We sat in the forest, where grass came up to our waists and trees occupied most of the space. It was a surprise Simon and me could sit hip-to-hip. The sky was almost completely dark now and it was getting hard to see just a few feet ahead of ourselves. Looking at Simon, I could see that he looked unsure of himself, as I'd been looking during all the time we had been sitting here. I didn't like that Liz was taking forever, nor did I like sitting in an almost pitch black forest. With Derek missing, with the highest probability of him having been kidnapped, it was scary.

"You sure she's coming back?" Simon asked. He didn't look at me when he said it. He probably felt guilty saying such things.

I pulled out some grass and threw it at him. "Of course she's coming back. Why wouldn't she? She's Liz. She's the nicest ghost I know," I said with a smile. He looked at me and smiled a funny smile, as if to say, _Sorry, I know. I don't know what to think anymore._

"I know she is, but do you think we should waste our time waiting for her when we could be looking for Derek? She might not know what to do, where to look-" I cut him off.

"Simon, I told her everything I knew about this. She can move quicker, look around more... She probably has more luck than we do." I pulled out some more grass and began to make a pile of it on my knee.

He didn't say anything again. I eventually stopped picking grass because my pile was beginning to be too big and because I was running out of grass to take. Liz was taking a really long time. Maybe she was having a hard time contacting me? Should I try summoning her again? It was too dark to make out shapes anymore, and it didn't help that there were clouds today and now the moon was being covered by them.

A shimmery spot moved in front of me. She popped in, as if reading my mind that I didn't like being out here anymore. I murmured something about her arrival to Simon and let her talk.

"Hey, Chloe! I found him. Isn't that _amazing_? He's back at the hotel with Tori. He's pretty freaked out, too. Come on!" she said, making lots of gestures with her arms as she spoke.

I relayed what she said to Simon and I followed Liz back, and Simon followed me.

"Do you know what happened with him?" Simon asked, staring at the ground but obviously aiming the question at Liz.

"Nope. I rushed back here as soon as I found out. Him and Tori were talking in Chloe's room. Actually _talking_. Isn't that crazy?" Again, I repeated it to Simon.

"Woah. Okay." He took a deep breath and picked up his pace, squeezing in between the trees and me. He stayed next to me, his arm occaisonally brushing mine.

We made it out of the forest really fast. The hotel came into view a couple of minutes later, along with the sight of Derek. As soon as I saw him I'm sure my face shone so bright. I began walking faster and faster until I was basically running at him.

He opened his arms and closed them around me as soon as I got close enough. I buried my head in his chest.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to me. Hearing his voice was the prettiest music anyone could play for me.

I didn't remove my head from its place. "You had me so worried."

Derek moved backwards so I could see him. His face looked sad. One of his hands came out towards me and it lifted my face and I sort of freaked out, wondering what he was doing. Then, lazily, he brushed a hand across my face and brought it a few inches in front of my eyes.

There were actual tears.

"I'm sorry," he whispered again. "I didn't mean to scare anyone." He took my hand and started walking me to the hotel but I stopped him with a gentle tug. He knew to stop. He knew that I could never actually _make _him stop, he was just being nice.

"Tell me what happened."

"After, okay? I'll tell you everything. I promise, just not here." He began walking with me in tow, but again, I stopped him.

"Derek," I warned.

He looked down at me, his eyes so green and wonderful. Not too long ago I'd thought that I'd never see them again, those beautiful bright green eyes. Now, I wanted to cry harder. I was so happy to have found him. "Please? I don't think we should talk here. There are people everywhere."

I looked around. There were a couple of people, though they were all headed towards the hotel. I turned to Derek again, a protest springing to my lips but he shook his head and we walked again. I peeked behind me to see Simon watching us with a look of complete confusion. I shrugged and pointed to the hotel. He went.

We got to my hotel room and I expected to see Tori there, where Liz had said she'd be, but she wasn't. It was empty and quiet. It was just as I'd left it when I had been leaving to get Derek from the hammock-thing. Derek set me down on my bed but didn't let go of my hand. I motioned for him to tell me.

"If I say that I don't know what happened, would that be good enough?" he asked. I stared at him. He sighed and said, "When my dad and your aunt got back, they smelled weird. Sort of like... werewolves. Not them, literally, but on them. I went to check the van and it was all over it, too."

"Then what?" I asked, not understanding how this made him disappear for over two hours.

"There was this woman who came up to me in the parking lot. She asked me if I was lost. I said no and tried to walk away from her but she grabbed my arm. It was her. She's the girl with the funky smell. Then I started thinking, _What the Hell is her smell doing all over Dad? And Lauren?_ I followed her for a little bit. She went back into the hotel, into one of the employee rooms." He went to say more but I stopped him.

"I think she's the one who talked to me before. She asked me the same thing."

"She talked to you?" he asked, startled.

I nodded. "She did the same thing. When I didn't find you here when I woke up I went to check for you at the hammock you always swing on. You weren't there so I just started looking around for you, kind of, and she came up to me."

He looked away, thinking.

What did this mean? Was the woman a werewolf? Was that why I felt scared and edgy when I was talking to her? And, what did she want with Derek? She certainly seemed to care about him the most during our conversation.

If she were a werewolf, she would want Derek off of her territory. Derek had explained that they were really personal about their space, that they didn't want _anyone_ in it. He'd said that it was hard to even be in a hotel. Having new scents coming in, maids or room service or anyone, unsettles them. Could the woman just be protecting herself?

"I don't think she's a werewolf though," he said finally. "I know you don't understand all of this, but it's different. There's a female werewolf, the only one, in the Pack. I've smelt it before. Compared to the creep, they're nothing alike."

_How did Derek smell her before?_ That question repeated in my head constantly for the next few seconds until my head tried answering it. Hadn't we been threatened to be brought to them by Liam and Ramon? The Pack sounded scary. How, if not when, did this happen?

The door opened and Tori walked in, completely interrupting us. She smiled a bit. "Hey, Derek."

I began laughing hard. Wow, there really were firsts for everything. She stared at me like I was a moron. Derek watched me with understanding.

"Um, hi," Derek replied, with just as much awkwardness.

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**Hey, if you like my story... review. If you hate my story... review. I'm not writing the next chapter until I get, hmm, 5 in total. I don't care if they're trashy or the nicest things in the world. So, go! Hit that button! Type them words!**

-Emily!


	7. In A State Of Lacking

**Hey!** I loved my reviews, so thank you everyone who did. Also, some of you asked a lot of questions. I don't think they're all going to be answered in here but I think all of them _will _be by the next chapter. Oh, and whoever reviewed those 2 really long ones (C.K) ? Thank you! It really helped, and I hope this one's good. ;D

Question! Are my chapters too short? I think I could either post one chapter a night, all of them consisting of around 1000 to 1500 words, or maybe a chapter every 2 nights, each of them long-ish. I only post my chapters when I've gotten all of my reviews, but I usually just write the next chapter as soon as I'm done writing the previous one. So, what do you think? Review your answer!

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~Part where Derek comes back, as requested~

Tori's POV.

I sat in my room, staring at a wall. Was it right for me to just leave them like that? Derek was my brother now, as much as it pained me to admit. I had to treat him just as I would treat Simon, or like my sister back at home. We were family in a way. Well, it depends on the way you look at it. Simon and him grew up together but they were in no way related.

Since they grew up together, it gave them the right to call eachother 'brother' but what did it give me? Kit was my father and Kit had adopted Derek. We were siblings, I suppose, but not technically. I didn't _have_ to call him my brother. Maybe it was just a decision I would have to make. Seeing as I just left because I was cold, being selfish and, well, bitchy it seemed like the decision was made.

Was it, though? What if Derek was really a good guy? I'd never gotten along with him, nor did he with me. He called me the bitch, I called him the dog. It seemed obvious that I wouldn't want to get along with him. But the way he treated Chloe and Simon, like they were more important than anything in the world, it seemed unfair. I have no one like that to me. If I got along with him, would he accept me like he did with them, or was it too late?

Chloe was no one, yet she was so quick to make friends with everyone. She came around, spoke a few simple words and voilà. Maybe it didn't help that I basically gave them every clue they needed to know that she was a necromancer. I didn't know though! How was I supposed to know that it would make her the most fantastic, wonderful girl at Lyle House? And here?

The door banged open and I looked up, startled. It was Derek.

"Where is everyone?" he asked, his voice sounding like he didn't really want to be asking me. Honestly, I didn't want to be talking to him. I'm sure he heard the news about me and his brother being related and I'm sure he had a good laugh at Simon. With the look he was giving me, it was clear that we weren't going to get along just because of what happened.

My mind halted, cutting off the issue that was spinning in my head. Derek was supposed to be missing. What was he doing here?

"Tori?" Derek sort of growled. He was losing his patience.

"Everyone's looking for you," I said dumbly. I attempted to make it sound like I didn't necessarily want to be talking to him, but I did. I wanted to try to make him like me. I wanted to fit in.

"Why?" he asked. His eyebrows were getting lower and closer together, making me feel dumb for not explaining more.

"They thought you got kidnapped or something."

"What the f-" He stopped. He ran a hand through his hair, sighed and looked out the window. "Do you know where they went?"

I nodded. "Forest. They thought maybe you went for a run."

His shoulders slumped and he went towards the door. Just then, I pad of paper and pen went flying from the nightstand, towards him. Derek turned his head sharply and caught them. A look of confusion passed across his face, then he looked at me angrily. "Did you-?"

"No."

He put them down and instantly the pen began to write. It wrote:

"_Hey guys, it's Liz. Isn't it cool how I can write to you? Anyways, Simon and Chloe are in the forest waiting for me but I'm going back now to tell them about this. I found you Derek! Yay! Go wait for us outside. I'll bring them to you. Tori, you can stay in here. Oh... Hi!_"

Derek chuckled and left the room.

Now, what was I going to do until he came back with them? My _one chance _at being alone with him and I blow it. How would I get him to like me if Chloe and Simon interrupted me at every opportunity that struck? It would be hard, but I hope, worth it. I was determined to actually get this sibling thing to work. I needed it to.

I left the room a few minutes after Derek.

* * *

Chloe's POV.

"Yo, Tori," I said, trying to sound like all the kids did these days. Being out of school for a little while made me completely un-cool. It was very evident when she started laughing at me.

"Don't." She laughed again and became serious. "I don't really want to interrupt but-"

Derek sighed and got up. He took Tori be the wrists and forced her towards the door. "Go, Tori. I want to talk to Chloe." The harshness of his voice was scary.

Tori blinked at him, stunned. She nodded and left.

I sat there, almost as stunned as Tori. What was _that_? Derek wasn't usually like that at all. He usually just yelled at her until she did what he said or he just ignored her. Since when did he grab her like that? And shove her away?

"Derek?" I asked quietly. He turned. "What's up?"

He came to sit next to me. He sighed, like he did just a moment ago and put took my hand in his. "Tori is pissing me off, Chlo. Why does she do that, just pop up all the time? I don't want her here, you don't want her here... Yeah, she's Simon's sister and Dad's daughter but can't she go back where she came from? I really don't want her here right now."

My mind tried processing all of this. Were we not just talking about the girl from the parking lot? Where did this come from, the hate he had on Tori?

"This has nothing to do with what we were talking about," I said slowly.

"I know that. You don't need to talk to me like I'm an idiot, either," he snapped. I stared at him. He closed his eyes for a second and brought up a hand, rubbing his forehead. Again, he sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just stressed. With what happened before, my head's been going nuts. I don't need Tori adding to it. Can't she just get the fact that no one wants her around?"

I watched him for a moment. "Do you want to continue with what you were saying before? Or..."

He nodded and thought for a moment, then began. "I'll need to go checking up on her later. I'm not sure what she is though and that's what scares me the most. She smells like a wolf, but she doesn't all at once. Unless..." He trailed off, muttering to himself.

I smiled sadly. Lately, Derek had been doing that. He's been getting stressed with the littlest things. He's been counted on for so much. When I needed him, he came, no matter what it was for. When Simon needed something, Derek helped. All of the questions I've wanted answers for were for Derek to answer, so he'd either have to research them or have to dig around his mind for the answers. I'd stopped with them though. He had enough with everyone counting on him, with everything in his head.

Too, all of this has been causing him really bad headaches. Kit said it was normal, under the circumstances he was in. He was a newly Changed werewolf and his body was still processing everything. The stress didn't help with his Changes either. Kit said it was normal that he'd Change about once a week. With Derek, it was up to three. Kit explained that werewolves Changed when their moods thought that they needed to. It was plain to see the issue there. Derek was an emotional-mess, although he hid it well. With me, I was close enough to see when he wasn't well. And that was a lot.

"Women aren't supposed to be werewolves though," he said, loud enough for me to hear. He was still in the state of thinking aloud. "Men only, that's the rule. Women can't take the Changes and so they die. I don't get it!"

I rubbed my thumb across his hand. "How about we go to bed? You'll think better with some sleep in you."

"I'm hungry. I didn't eat yet."

I laughed a little bit and picked up the phone, letting him order from room service. _It was typical that he'd want food_, I thought. Later, our food arrived and we ate. We went to sleep curled up together and when I awoke, he was still here.

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**REVIEW. **Oh, and sorry if the ending is crummy. I got tired at that part and really wanted to update. I was sort of really determined. Lol. Anyways, thanks for reading.

-Emily.


	8. Author's note? Is that what it's called?

So, I'm not sure if this story is going anywhere. I've waited forever and only got 4 reviews. To be honest, it's pretty sad, really. I think it's been around a month, too. My story is on the 4th or 5th page though, so I don't expect anyone to be reading it anymore. If anyone sees this now, tell me to just give up or write more. Simple as that, right?

-Emily.


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